Lena May “Tommie” Gray (1923 - 2009)

Tommie Gray was born in Olinda in Essex County, Ontario. Her first eighteen years were spent on the family fruit farm near Leamington, Ontario. She and her brother joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1942. Both served overseas during the Second World War and Tommie earned the British Empire Medal for Distinguished Service. She returned to Canada in 1946 and took a job in the CIBC bank in Dawson. There she met and married Chuck Gray in 1948. Chuck worked at the local Radar Station. They lived in Robert Service’s cabin, built and operated the Robert Service Motel, across the street, and owned and operated the movie theatre as well as serving on the town council. Tommie was the Yukon’s first woman councillor. They moved to Sooke in 1962 and Tommie worked at the CIBC in Colwood and Sooke. She resumed her life-long passion for market gardening and sold her produce at flea markets in the Southern Island area. Tommie had suffered from a heart condition for many years and was nearly blind with glaucoma, but she always remained upbeat and never complained.¹⁾